Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks National Monument, Las Cruces, New Mexico – Baylor Pass

It’s a hard drive across west Texas with the sun in my eyes.  Visor permanently down.  One hundred miles straight shot, no services.  Moving across the flats of far west Texas toward El Paso, cell coverage drops and I’m counting the miles to what I hope will bring gas in the next forty.  Air conditioning …

Desert Treasure

Caballo Lake State Park, Caballo Mountains, New Mexico The land here in southern New Mexico is harsh and gentle at the same time. You see this most clearly if you follow the Rio Grande north from Texas. A ribbon of green snaking along the valley, flanked by desert mountains. Mountains which look soft from a …

Footprints in the Sand: Horseback Riding White Sands National Park, New Mexico

Blinding white in all directions.  Footprints erased by wind.  Every route the same. Driving south from Lincoln National Forest, New Mexico the land greets us with open arms.  Ranges and ranches go on for miles.  I can breathe.  I can see.  The chaos of Alamogordo gives way to White Sands National Park, sitting pristine at …